Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to work with relevant bodies to help protect the buzzard (a) nationally and (b) in Romford constituency.

The UK buzzard population has shown significant recovery since the 1900s and can now be found across most of the UK. With 63,000 breeding pairs across the species, it is not considered of conservation concern. However, the species can still be a victim of persecution.

The Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Crime against birds of prey is a national wildlife crime priority and where any wild buzzard is killed illegally the full force of the law should apply to any proven perpetrators of the crime. Most wildlife crimes carry up to an unlimited fine and/or a six-month custodial sentence.

Defra supports the work of Bird of Prey Crime Priority Delivery Group, which brings together police, government and stakeholders from conservation and country sports organisations to tackle bird of prey persecution. In 2022 Defra more than doubled its funding of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) from a total of £495,000 over the three previous years to £1.2 million for the three-year period of 2022-25 to target wildlife crime priorities, in particular crimes against birds of prey. NWCU helps prevent and detect wildlife crime by obtaining and disseminating intelligence, undertaking analysis which highlights local or national threats and directly assisting law enforcers in their investigations.